


Paper Planes

by fallawayfics



Category: DreamSMP, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, Minecraft youtube, Streamers, Twitch - Fandom, dream - Fandom, dreamnotfound - Fandom, mlm - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: DreamSMP - Freeform, DreamTeam, Driving, Football, High School, Homophobia, M/M, Moving, Music, Nerd X jock, Please read notes!, SMPLive - Freeform, School, Sports, Teenagers, dream team, friendships, m/m - Freeform, mcyt - Freeform, minecraft youtube - Freeform, mlm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28684587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallawayfics/pseuds/fallawayfics
Summary: "...Okay, Okay- Alex, Connor, John, that's quite enough." Miss Landry said, annoyance evident in her voice.As the rowdy classroom somewhat subsided, Miss Landry cast her gaze towards the back."...And as I saw on my roster, we have a few new students to the school this year, and it looks like we have one right here! What's your name, dear?"Clay turned around in his chair, not expecting to see anyone he wouldn't know this year.After a short period of silence, most of the other students peered their heads in the direction of the stranger. His head was down, face hidden by the hoodie of his sweater."Your name, honey, what's your name?" Miss Landry said."....George." He said, with an evident accent.Dream knew at that second, that this was going to be a challenging school year._________________The classic cliché: Popular jock meets new nerdy student. I figured I could do this cliché some justice though, with our favorites from the DreamSMP and a few OC's. We see them in an alternate universe, as seniors in high school. Clay, captain of the football team, dubbed "Dream" by his football coach, meets George: a new student, new to Florida from the UK.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Dream SMP Ensemble & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Paper Planes

**Author's Note:**

> Hello you filthy rat bastards 
> 
> i'm Kay and this is my story
> 
> I couldn't put it in the Summary because I ran out of space but, the whole fic is somewhat based around the song Paper Planes by Elina, and each chapter of the fic (besides the first chapter) is loosely based around a few songs that I will put in the notes. If you don't like the songs or don't know them, don't even worry about it, you'll still be able to read this fic uwu. Honestly, i think there will just be some mention of lyrics and then the chapter names will be based off song names or whatever, literally do not worry about it  
> i've been thinking about the actual like story setup and whatever for a long time, but I never really had characters to put into the story, and I didn't know of anyone who i could put into the spot of the two main characters, so i was like hmmmm what if dreamnotfound and then the rest kinda just fell into place. The song part is kinda just an added bonus.
> 
> Disclaimer: This is 100% fictional. This work is in no way to depict anyone in a way they are not. I have a ton of respect for George and Dream, and if they every make a statement saying that they are no longer comfortable with fanfiction, I'll delete this work. Do not link this fic, do not mention this fic, do not let the content creators know this fic exists. I love heat waves but I would not be comfortable with them knowing this fic exists. There's gonna be smut in this book and I'm aware that dream and george are real people. with that being said they haven't said that they are uncomfortable with people writing smut about them. If they ever do say or even hint at them being uncomfortable with smut, the book goes down and I'll apologize.
> 
> NO CONTENT CREATORS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 WILL BE PUT IN THIS FIC, including tommy and tubbo. If any of the characters in this fic are minors, PLEASE PLEASE tell me, if there are I put them in not knowing they were a minor. 
> 
> ALSO it's not just gonna be dreamsmp members, it'll be other twitch streamers as well as the background characters. 
> 
> SO IM NOT TRYING TO COPY HEAT WAVES I SWEAR DUDE I just like. want to do this classic way over done cliche of two high school characters and ones a jock and ones a little piece of garbage and what if they were gay. I do love Heat Waves though, huge props to the writer of that work
> 
> A few OC's will be minors (little siblings, underclassmen, etc,) BUT NOT CONTENT CREATORS 
> 
> Also there will be smut between 12th graders but I myself am a 12th grader so. Anyone in the story that will be in any sexual situations will be 18.
> 
> any questions, criticism, whatever, leave them in the comments and I'll try and get back to you. If you're here to say this is stupid and disgusting, you've got a good point. But from the way I see it, these are literally my own original characters, and i'm just slapping streamers names on them so people can visualize them better. Does that make sense no okay
> 
> Alright lads lets do this

Clay woke to his sister slamming on his bedroom door. He was immediately enamored with overstimulating noise.   
  
Alarm Clock. Pounding. So many footsteps. Door rattling on its hinges. And now, sister yelling.  
  
"Clay! Let's go! Do you know how sad it is to be late on the first fucking day?!"   
  
"Cecilia," He heard his mom shout "Watch your language!"  
  
Clay shot up out of bed with the realization. He stumbled out of bed and shook off the sleepiness. After slamming his palm on the top button on his alarm clock, he made a mad dash for his closet and grabbed the first shirt he saw, a red flannel, and quickly jumped into his worn jeans he'd placed on his dresser the night before. He pulled opened his bedroom door just as Cecilia was about to bring her fist to the door. Unintentionally ignoring her, he headed for the bathroom and vigorously began brushing his teeth, while simultaneously running a comb through his hair. As he looked at himself in the mirror he saw his clothes looked wrinkled, and shabby. Was he presentable enough? Would anyone even care, or notice?  
  
"Well good morning sunshine!" She said in a faux-adoring tone. "Did you get your beauty sleep last night? Slept like a baby? Not a care in the world, not even about the first day o-"   
  
"Shut up Cece," He said in a hushed tone so his mom wouldn't hear, toothpaste bubbling at his mouth. He spit, "Do you want a ride to school or not? It's only a 5ish mile walk."   
  
Cecelia threw her hands in the air with a mumbled _"Whatever"_ As their mom came around the corner of the hall, slipping on her high heels.   
  
"I'm running a little behind today guys, sorry for the sudden goodbye, have a good day at school..."   
  
After she put on her heels correctly she smoothed back Cecelia's hair and kissed her forehead, causing Cecelia to grimace. She then did the same to Clay as he was washing his hands. Contrary from his sister, he didn't mind kisses from mom. It reminded him that no matter what he did or what kind of day he was having, someone would always love him. Cece was just in that awkward age where any affection from a family member was embarrassing. After his mom kissed his forehead, she pulled back with her hands on his shoulders. She started into his eyes with a sad and distant smile.   
  
"How is it my baby boy's _last_ first day of school... God, I remember just yesterday when you were wobbling around this house learning to walk- Oh goodness, I'm gonna be late-" She said, quickly breaking focus from her son. Clay enjoyed hearing his mom reminisce, but he never wanted her to feel sad.   
  
She made a break for the door, picking up her bags and coffee cup from the kitchen table. Without turning back, she yelled out to the house with her hand on the doorknob, "I'd appreciate it if someone could fill up Patches bowl before you guys head out for school. Have an amazing, wonderful, fantastic day my loves!"   
  
Before they could even shout back their goodbyes, the front door was closing behind her. Clay pulled out his phone, reading the time as 6:50 A.M. He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fists.  
  
"There's not time for breakfast, just, just get in the car, come one, let's get a move on."   
  
He flicked the light off and trailed his sister into the living room, grabbing his backpack off the floor next to the couch.  
  
"Do you have work after school today? Or practice..." Cecelia queried, quickly dumping the cat's pellet shaped food into her ceramic bowl, brandishing a big _"P"_ in a heart.  
  
"Just work, practice doesn't start until next week. But I won't be able to take you home today. Can you get Jenny to give you a ride home, or something?"   
  
"I'll figure something out." 

  
She slung her violet colored backpack over her shoulder as Clay held open the front door.  
  
"Well you can't come home from school if you don't show up." He monotoned.   
  


"You're one to talk, sleeping beauty."  
  
____________________________________

"I swear to God," Clay said, hands moving slowly over the steering wheel, "The people here couldn't park to save their lives. It almost looks like they parked terribly on purpose, like, can people really park this poorl-"  
  
"Clay," the younger said, interrupting his rambling, "Did you know, that if you woke up earlier, and we left earlier, then we wouldn't have to see these kids terrible parking? And as a bonus, we wouldn't have to drive around looking for a spot!" Her voice laced with phoney amazement.   
  
He rolled his eyes as his car trudged through the parking lot at a measly five miles per hour. Suddenly Cece made a noise of surprise, nudging her brother with her elbow, and pointing out the window.   
  
"Clay, spot, right there!"   
  
Clay made a noise of acknowledgement, heading towards the spot slightly faster. Just then, a sleek black Hummer came around the corner. The siblings both made noises of protest, as if that would stop the other persons vehicle. As the large vehicle pulled directly into their sought after spot, they both groaned.   
  
"That car looks familia-"  
  


"Hahaha!" a head poking out of the Hummer's window said, "Eat shit, Dream! Maybe learn to drive a little faster. What, is that rust bucket solar powered?"  
  
Clay rolled down his window to raise his middle finger, a smile playing on his face, while annoyed.   
  
"Screw you, Schlatt, is that big hummer compensating for your littl-"   
  
"Clay, Clay! Spot over there!" Cecilia shouted. She was clearly getting antsy, her hand clutching her backpack.  
  
"Can I get one word in today without being interrupted..." Clay mumbled under his breath.  
  
He made his way over to the spot and parked nearly perfectly. Before the car could even stop moving, and before he could put the car in park, Cece was running out of the car, making a beeline for her friends sitting on the steps to the school. As he parked he said, mostly to himself, _"_ _Yeah, you're so welcome for the ride, have a great day baby sis."_ Schlatt walked towards Dreams car. Dream opened his door, reaching for his backpack in the backseat.   
  
"Hey big man, how ya doing?" Schlatt said.   
  
"I'm alright," He turned and threw the bag on his back, stepping out of the car. He got a good look at his face.  
  
"What's with the sideburns?" He gestured towards the sides of his face.   
  
Schlatt quickly rose his hands and stroked the hairs defensively. "What, the chops? You're just jealous cause your babyface can't grow a nice pair of these bad boys."   
  
They walked towards the large stone stairs of the school building. They chatted back and forth about their summers, working, tired mornings and forgotten nights. Dream smiled slightly, enjoying the fact that it felt like no time had passed at all. As they walked up the steps and passed by Cece and her little group of friends, they could see Wilbur and Phil behind the glass on the front doors. Schlatt waltzed in, eager to greet his pals, while Clay followed closely behind. They excitedly greeted each other, following up with the usual first-day chit-chat.  
  
Wilbur grinned, "So what classes do you all have first period? Phil and I have orchestra with Ms. Hayes."  
  
Schlatt wretched, "Eck, I hate that broad."  
  
Dream elbowed him in his side, earning a shrug from Schlatt, mumbling _"well it's true..."_  
  
"I have, if I remember correctly, English 12 with Landry."  
  
"Aye, I've got that class, and you know who else has that class, Connor, and Karl," he began counting on his fingers "I think Nick... Zak, Jack I think... You know what, now that I think about it, Zak might not be there-"   
  
As he was talking, the front entrance way was becoming increasingly more crowded. Dream decided to cut Schlatt off in order to keep his anxiety from getting the better of him.  
  
"You know, Schlatt, we could just walk down there and I could see for myself..."   
  
Schlatt pursed his lips and slowly began to walk off towards the English wing of the building. Dream waved goodbye to the two, with Wilbur calling about meeting at lunch, to which Dream gave a thumbs up. As they got closer to the classroom the saw other students slowly filing in. Dream tried to recognize faces, seeing who he knew, which was just about everyone. Some he knew better than others, but he knew of everyone, and everyone knew of him. They'd have a hard time not knowing of him, with his face always being plastered on the towns newspaper after an amazing Football game. Girls had quite a fondness for him, and he wasn't exactly sure why, as there were plenty of other handsome guys on the football team. His mom always said it was because of his smile, but he was never sure.   
  
He stepped in and heard cheers from his friends from their desks. He took his seat in front of Schlatt, and next to Alex. As the boys jabbed and annoyed each other, and while Schlatt and Connor tried to get Becca to get angry, Dream did his best to scan the room without getting distracted. He wanted to see who was here, who was sitting where. Per usual, the girls grouped together to one side while the boys populated their own respective area. There was that grey area in the middle that Schlatt and Conner invaded to get to Becca, and there was the other side of the room where the pairs of people who wanted to be alone, or the stragglers, resided. People with their heads, or their hoods down, some people with their hair covering their faces. Some people got haircuts, or dyed their hair. He turned in his chair to face forward when her heard the tell tale rapid click of high heels down the hallway. The bell rang as she set foot through the doorway.   
  
"Whew, okay, hey everyone! Good morning! My apologies for being a little late..." Miss Landry said, coffee cup in hand a long with a mass of papers, binders, a laptop, and books.

Clay smiled; Classic Miss Landry to be late on the first day of school. Although, he shouldn't have expected anything less, having her for English 11 last year, where she was up to 5 minutes late to class nearly every day. He couldn't complain though, as he could always slip in after the bell, and never be counted tardy.  
  
She set all of her belongings on her messy desk, and threw her shoulder bag behind it. She stood up in the front and center of the room, smoothed her white blouse and sheath skirt, and clapped her hands together. She put on that pageant-winning grin Clay was so used to seeing. He swear he could see lipstick on her teeth. Normally her makeup was so perfect.  
  
"Okay! So to those who don't know me, hello! I'm Miss Landry, I'll be your English teacher for this year.... I didn't have anything specific planned for today..."  
  


 _Typical. Classic. Familiar.  
  
_ "But, I was thinking we could play a little 'get to know me' game! I know it's a little childish for seniors, but why not start off this year with something fun? I suppose you don't all know each other perfectly.... Who would like to start?"   
  
"Becca would!" Connor chimed, pointing towards the pouting purple-haired girl.  
  
"Ah, I would say thank you for volunteering Becca, but you didn't really...."   
  
Becca stood up from her desk in a huff, presenting herself in the front of the room.   
  
"My name's Becca, I like cats, and I hate men whose names start with the letter J."   
  
Dream turned to face Schlatt.  
  
 _"Wonder who that could be"_ Schlatt mumbled.

As the time ticked past each class member introduced themselves. Some with kind hearts, looking to make new friends and form stronger relationships, and some with the only intention of getting under the teacher's, or each other's, skins. After many of his other class mates, Dream volunteered. He simply stayed at his desk, rather than go up to the front of the room.  
  
"My name's Clay, but a lot of my friends call me 'Dream'. I have a little sister, she's a sophomore, I have a cat named Patches, I-"  
  
Alex made a loud exaggerated snoring noise, drawing the attention towards himself.   
  
"Boring!- Here Dream I'll show you how to be interesting. My name's Alexis, but I go by Alex, soy bilingue; Soy fluido en inglés y español, and I'm fluid when I'm talking to the ladies."   
  
Schlatt sat upright, "I think he means the men. The big, hot m-"  
  
"That's enough, you g-" Miss Landry chimed.  
  
"Sorry Miss, I'll go, and I'll show the rest of these losers how it's done. My name is Jebediah-"  
  
"John, let's use our real names please."  
  
"Fine, my name's John Schlatt and you morons will refer to me as Schlatt, or Mr. J. Schlatt."  
  
Alex butt into Schlatt's spiel, "What about Mr. Schlong? Or Mr. Schatt?"   
  
"J. Shitt?" Connor said rather loudly. 

The class erupted into shouts and laughs. Schlatt socked Alex right in the arm, causing him to shove back. Miss Landry clapped her hands in an attempt to get the class to settle down, an irritated frown playing on her face.

"...Okay, Okay- Alex, Connor, John, that's quite enough." Miss Landry said, annoyance evident in her voice.

As the rowdy classroom somewhat subsided, Miss Landry cast her gaze towards the back.

"...Ah, and as I saw on my roster, we have a few new students to the school this year, and it looks like we have one right here! What's your name, dear?"

Clay turned around in his chair, not expecting to see anyone he wouldn't know this year.

After a short period of silence, most of the other students peered their heads in the direction of the stranger. His head was down, face hidden by the hoodie of his sweater. 

"Your name, honey, what's your name?" Miss Landry said. 

"....George." He said, with an evident accent.

Dream knew at that second, that this was going to be a challenging school year. 

For both him, the new boy that is. It wasn't easy being new at his high school, where everyone essentially knew each other. Clay couldn't imagine moving to a new school, let alone a new country. He wasn't quite sure where the boys accent hailed from, or if he even had lived somewhere other than Florida. He's heard about growing up outside of the country from Wilbur, and a few of his other friends, but that could never make up for actually living the experience.   
  
"Not to put you on the spot, or anything, but I see you have an accent! Are you from Florida?" She said with a grin.  
  
"No, I'm from the U.K., my family moved for my dad's work." He said.  
  
Becca mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for her peers around her to hear _"if she references me I'm gonna-"  
  
_ "Well! Isn't that wonderful! We have a few students here who have come from around the world, including Miss Becca right here, who comes from Ireland!"  
  
Becca stared blankly in no particular direction, rather than respond to the chipper Miss Landry.   
  
"Well," Miss Landry said, clasping her hands and pursing her lips "We welcome you to Frontier Trail High School." 

He wondered if his teacher was picking up on the awkwardness and slight embarrassment she was putting the boy through. She turned to the board, and picked up a piece of chalk. She wrote in big bold letters " **SYLLABUS** "   
  
"Let's get started, shall we?"  
  
_______________________

Clay closed his car door and pulled his jacket together to zip it up. He trudged towards the small glass door of his work, and opened it to hear a gentle chime, alerting his few coworkers of the presence of someone new in the building. He walked towards the front desk where the small elderly woman resided every day from Monday to Friday. He always assumed she never had anything else to do, or anywhere else to go. She never spoke of grandkids, kids or a husband, not even pets. She looked up from her book, a gave him a little smile as he approached the desk. She placed her bookmark in her book, and moved it to the side, beginning to route through her papers and eventually picking one out.   
  
"Afternoon, Sheila!" He said, taking his DTR (daily time record) from the woman.  
  
"Hello Clay. You're not gonna be as busy today. Claire cancelled, and...." She stared at his shirt, leaving Clay confused. "Missing something?" 

She pointed towards her name tag, reading " _SafeT First Driving School_ " right above " _Sheila_ "  
  
With realization, clay groaned. He'd promised her last week he's stop forgetting his name tag.   
  
"I mean, half these kids already know my name, don't they?"  
  
She pulled a small label and a sharpie out of one of her desk drawers.  
  
"You've got one new person in Claire's spot. I was going to give him to Morgan, but you two are the same age, so I figured maybe he'd get along better with you. I think Claire either has fallen ill, or has had a death in the family..." She droned on, writing out ' _CLAY_ ' on the label.

Clay furrowed his brows, looking down the list of his students for the day, organized by time from first to last:

> _CLAY DTR \ MONDAY 8/25_
> 
>   
>  _3:00 P.M. - Adia_
> 
> _4:30 P.M. - Hanson_
> 
> _6:00 P.M. - George_

"What was that boys name again?" he though aloud to himself.   
  
"I know _this_ boy's name is Clay," She said, standing up slightly from her swivel seat, reaching over her desk and placing the homemade name tag onto the top of his shirt, "And you know how I know, dear? He's got a name tag."  
  
He smiled and thanked her, once again promising to bring his name tag to work. 

He swiftly moved to the next room over to grab a set of keys to one of the teaching cars. Each teaching car had an extra set of accelerator and brake pedals on the passenger side, along with a second rearview mirror. It was also adorned with a wrap around the exterior car, displaying the driving school's name, along with _'STUDENT DRIVER; PLEASE BE PATIENT'._ He knew it embarrassed the hell out of the students, but that feeling of embarrassment soon became a right of passage. As he reached for them, his student Adia came through the door. She was always punctual. 

"Hey! Ready to go?"  
  
The girl nodded, and they soon walked together to the car.  
  
______________________  
  
At 5:49 he said his goodbyes to Hanson, as this was his final in-car before he could get his license.   
  
"It was a pleasure teaching you bud, and just remember to do a full stop at the stop signs, a rolling stop is frowned upon by the folks at the DMV."  
  
He sat on the steps of the building as Hanson gets into his mom's car. Clay wonders if maybe she'll let him drive home this time, but seeing as Hanson gets into the passenger seat, Clay guesses not. He waves for the last time at the boy, and eventually watches the car fade off into the onsetting evening.  
  
He sits and waits as the clock ticks on, his phone eventually reading 5:10. Maybe Adia's knack for being on time or early spoiled him. He forgot that most of his students show up pretty late. There was a longing in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure if we wanted or didn't want his student to be _THE_ George. He got vibes from him that he couldn't quite place on a comfort scale. When he thought about him, Clay felt a pull in the pit of his stomach, not butterflies, but rocks. He felt the same kind of gritty, sand paper feeling in his mouth when he saw Schlatt. When he thinks about sitting in a car with him for an hour and 30 minutes, he feels pebbles in the soles of his shoes, and dust in his lungs. When his home screen, a picture of Patches exposing her fluffy belly, showed 5:12, he saw a sleek black Lexus out of the corner of his eye. Although the windows were slightly tinted, he could see a dark haired woman driving, and the same boy, dressed in the same heather grey hoodie that covered his face in the classroom that day.

With a sudden spring in his step, Clay met the car as it parked. The mom got out, a white toothy smile on her face. her neck was adorned with pearls, with earrings to match. They both shot greetings at each other.

_Two extroverts, makes this whole thing a little easier._

"Hi there! Are you the driving instructor?" a thick accent hung on every word. Clay nodded graciously as she stuck out her hand for a handshake, which he shook politely.   
  
"Yes ma'am, that'd be me! My name's Clay."  
  
"It's a pleasure. I'm Serena, and this is my son George," She said, using her thumb to point behind her at the teen emerging from the car.

"Great!" He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "I normally would walk in with you to go and fill out the other paper work, but because of the time I figured George and I would just get the ball rolling."  
  
She waved her hands and continued on and on about how she was sorry for being late. Clay was only partially listening. Although his eyes were locked into Serena's, his peripheral vision helped him see his student, who also happened to be his classmate in another sense. George's stance was awkward, and he seemed uncomfortable. He was looking down at the blacktop, hands in his hoodie pocket. She eventually said something about going inside, and walked to the building, leaving the two boys.  
  
"Let's head to the training car"   
  
They both sauntered over to the car, George taking the seat behind the wheel, and Clay sitting right along side him. They both pulled their seatbelts on.   
  
"So, has your mom ever let you drive her car before? Ever on the road, or around the neighborhood..."  
  
George sighed and turned to his instructor, "I can drive, you know. I used to drive everywhere back home, I had my own car and license, everything. But you have to get a new license when you move countries. Although, the steering wheel is on the other side in your guy's cars. Or pedals on both sides."   
  
Clay laughed "No no, that's just the training car. Normal cars here don't have two pedals."  
  
He handed George the keys, to which he promptly put them in the ignition and brought the car to life.  
  
"I already did the online drivers education classes, I just gotta finish the in-cars."  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard. Word to the wise though, American drivers typically stink. Everyone acts like the rules of the road don't apply to them."  
  
As George put the car into reverse, Clay relayed the driving route to him, essentially in circles around the town, going through four-way stops, traffic circles, and other driving situations to get the student prepared for driving on their own. As George got on the road and casually kept up with traffic. You wouldn't suspect by his moms bold and excitable attitude that George was her son. He was quiet, which Dream should have expected by the introduction he gave to the class this morning. Clay wanted to break the somewhat awkward silence by flicking through his repertoire of questions he always asked his students.   
  
"So, do you play any sports?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh. I play foo-"  
  
"Football. I know."  
  
Clay twiddled his thumbs. George was kind of cold, gritty like sandpaper. Clay didn't want to bore him or bother him with his questions, but he also didn't want the entire next hour to be nothing but bitter silence, with the occasional driving tip, if necessary. Dream found it impossible to gauge what the dark haired boy was feeling.   
  
"Is that Schlatt kid on the football team?" George said, knocking Clay out of his deep thought. He was caught quite off guard with the question, but wanted to answer.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"I dunno. He just seems a little... Well, he seems like he's got a couple screws loose, I guess."  
  
Clay laughed "He's an okay guy, he's just a little overzealous and abrasive at times."  
  
"He got up in front of the class and called us all morons and losers."  
  
They both laughed gently as George turned the car to the right, merging into the next lane over.   
  
"He reminds me a lot of how they portray Americans on tv, but even more exaggerated. A lot of the kids at that school do, I guess. Dramatic, idiotic-"  
  
Clay clapped his hand over his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. George responded with a chortle of his own.   
  
"Give me some examples, c'mon, humor me!"  
  
"Alright, alright," Said George with a smile, thinking up some. "Schlatt kind of seems like the super-rich control freak, the kind of kid that's only aspiration is to grow up to be a trillionaire. You know, snake oil salesmen, Donald Trump type. Oh, and Alex, he's like the poorly cast comedic relief that is always there at the wrong time. Connor seems like the guy who's only goal is to cause trouble, I guess. And Becca is sorta like the hot girl everyone goes after, with her bitchy attitude and her razor thin patience-"  
  
"Becca's not even American!" Clay laughed, clutching his stomach to keep himself from laughing too hard. George just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, mumbling something about the American school system indoctrinating her into their culture.   
  
"Now me, what about me?" Clay glanced at him with eager eyes.  
  
"Hmm... I guess just the... jock guy? I don't really know, you're kind of hard to read. No offense."  
  
"None taken. I kind of don't really talk about myself, just cause... I guess I don't really have anything to say."   
  
It was silence for the next couple of minutes. Clay couldn't tell if George was focusing on the road, or just didn't want to talk. The silence was broken once again with yet another question.   
  
"The other kids, in our english class, they were calling you 'Dream'.... and you said your friends called you 'Dream'. Why? That's kind of a weird nickname. Again, no offense."  
  
" s'alright. It's a valid question. The Frontier Trail football team has always been pretty weak. Just sloppily coached, no teamwork, no grit, you know. And then, my freshmen year, the school got a new coach, as well. We became the 'Dream Team', just with really good leadership and really good new players, and teachers and old coaches just started calling me 'Dream'. I think they give me too much credit. Nick is fantastic, same with Schlatt. When Schlatt's not slinging dope, he's a monster on the field. Phil's good too, he's a little more reserved though, so he's better with.... Sorry, I don't want to bore you."   
  


"No, it's okay. This is better than silence."  
  
And just like that, back to silence. The hum of the air conditioner filled the car.   
  
"So do you like America?" Dream asked, a little tinge of embarrassment playing at his voice, unsure if that was a cliché question George had gotten a lot.  
  
"It's okay. It's different. The fast food here tastes different, everyone's speech and mannerisms are different, grocery stores a different, the scenery is different.... Everything just feels a little.... Off, I guess. That's the only way I could put it"  
  
Of course Clay's mind only stuck to his first comment on fast food. "What kind of fast food have you been having?"   
  
"Well my mum always insists on cooking, but sometimes she caves and lets me get fast food, pretty much just McDonalds. The chicken here tastes a little different, I dunno. Not like, in a good way or a bad way, just different is all. Also you guys have a few different menu items then in the UK."  
  
The sun was starting to set, and the neon signs adorning the buildings the passed flew by in blurry motions. One neon sign dead ahead gave Dream an idea.   
  
"You ever had a Slurpee?"   
  
George's face went bright red. His mouth turned down to a puckered frown. Clay quickly caught on, with an embarrassed laugh.   
  
"No no no, okay, so it's a drink, not like, a sexual thing"   
  
They both laughed as George's chest relaxed, and his cheeks returned to their natural shade of pastel pink.

Dream pointed to the green and orange light of the building with a giant "7" atop. "C'mon pull in here."  
  
__________________________  
  
They sat on the curb, the denim of both their jeans resting as comfortable as the could be on the concrete. Few people popped in an out of the convenience store, hands in their pockets, or on their newly obtained coffee cups.   
  
George moved his straw around his cup as Dream sipped on his own. The air carried George's words as they left his mouth.  
  
"So yeah, I think we did have Seven Elevens a while ago, but I think they got bought out by some other company. We never went in though, my mom has a weird thing about 'dirty' stores, like, unsanitary and stuff."   
  
Dream nodded, lips not leaving his straw. His slurpee tasted of blue raspberry, lemon lime and cherry. He and Cece had always been about combining different slurpee flavors growing up. He hadn't had one in a while. The taste was just a chemical-sugary mess, but the fondness and nostalgia it brought about made up for that. George meanwhile had just gotten plain cherry. George glanced at his cup, tongue pressing against his cheek.  
  
"So, it's just water and sugar, essentially?"   
  
"Yeah."   
  
They both sat in silence, sipping their drinks and watching the sun go down over the lights of the sleepy city, the nearby traffic light changing every few minutes. They chatted over nothing, school schedules, likes and dislikes, all that. George seemed reluctant to share some things, but Clay didn't blame him. Eventually the topic came back to the driving school.  
  
"You're sure you won't get in trouble?"  
  
"Nah. You already know how to drive, it's not like I'm cheating you out of an education. You just need your in-car hours." 

After a little more time watching the sky change a variety of different hues of blue to black, the two stood up, tossing their cups in the trash and sticking their hands in their pockets, moving back to the vehicle. 

"Alright, let's get you back." Dream said, passing the keys to the shorter of the two.

The ride back was quiet, but surprisingly not too awkward. Deep down Dream hoped that this wouldn't make things weird at school. He was snapped out of his trance when he felt the familiar potholes of the SafeT parking lot under the car. Dream instinctually instructed his student which spot to pull into.  
  
Clay breathed and put his hands on his knees, his palms making a small _thud_ against the blue denim. "Normally I tell the student where they messed up, or that they're a terrible driver and are a hazard to other people on the road," Sarcasm falling from his lips "But I think you're a genuinely good driver. It's kinda impressive how easily you adjusted to everything being on the opposite side."   
  
They both did slight smiles at each other. "I mean, between you and I, I've driven my mom's car quite a bit since we moved. It was confusing at first but-"   
  
They were interrupted by George's mom pulling up in the space next to them. She had a huge smile, and she got out of her car. George sighed and met her outside of the training car, where she immediately bombarded him with questions. He kept sighing and giving her one worded answers. It made Dream wonder what their home life was like, two opposites living together. Eventually George walked away from her to the passenger side of her Lexus, his arms crossed and hoodie covering parts of his face. She kept giving her thanks and praises to Dream, but Clay stopped listening, staring at the boy in the car. It was a change from what he'd seen at the gas station, a small smile and inquisitive eyes, now with a frown and looking down. 

He saw them off as they finally drove home, watching Geroge's mom unknowingly run through the potholes. _Her poor tires,_ he thought. After he'd clocked out and said a goodnight to his coworkers, he made the journey home, picking up food for him and his sister on the way home. 

Clay couldn't help but hope they both would get more comfortable with each other as the weeks went on. Clay hoped maybe tomorrow he'd come to school with his hood down. Clay hoped maybe they'd make eye contact. Clay hoped maybe he'd get a smile from the boy.   
  
And tonight, while driving home to Patches and his little sister, at the thought of George, Clay caught himself smiling. 

**Author's Note:**

> hahaha you read DNF fic, haha cringe


End file.
